Size and process of making same.



A. W. H. LENDERS.-

SIZE AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 8.19116.

Patented. Jan. 15, 1918.

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ADOLPH kIEE. LENDERS, F CEDAR RAPIDS, IIIOUVA.v

SIZE AND PROCESS 0F MAKING- SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jamin 115, 1918,.

Application led July 8, 1916. Serial No'. 108,188.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ADoLPH 1V. H. LEND- nns, `a citizen of the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Size and Processes of Making Same, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to the manufacture of a starch product for use particularly as a size in the textile industries; and the objects of the invention are to provide, first, a size or analogous product which will have' certain novel and improved properties to be hereinafter described and claimed; and second, an'improved method of manufacturing a'product of this character.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which shows, diagrammatically in sectional elevation, a suitable apparatus for practising the process of my invention.

The purpose of sizing yarn, for example, in the manufacture of textile fabrics is to strengthen the fabric and sometimes to give weight and bodyto it. Thesize penetrates and also coats the yarn, causing the fibers to adhere together. In order to give the size its capacity for penetrating the yarn I produce a thin-boiling starch of any desired degree of fluidity. The higher the degree of {iuiditythe greater willl be the? penetratlng power of the size. In certain classes of fabrics, fabrics for example, that are not ordinarily Washed, it is important to .have the size penetrate the yarn as com-r pletely as possible in order that the cloth 4should have weight and body. It is desirable also, under certain circumstances, that the vsize should coat each of the fibers of the yarn in Aorder to strengthen the same. I

provide a size for accomplishing both these results by mixing with the thin boiling starch a certain amount of ordinary raw or thick boiling starch. The thin boiling starch, because of it fluidity, penetrates the yarn. The thick boiling starch, because of its viscosity, cannot penetrate the yarn but instead forms a film or thin covering around the same.

. To make a size more adhesive and smoother ,Furthermore, where desired, I introducek into the product, in such manner that it willv be thoroughly diffused therethrough, other lngredients for example, a lubricating substance, such as petroleum oil, or other oil orV fat; a hygroscopic substance, such as calcium chlorld; and any suitable germicide for preventing the size from spoiling.

These ingredients may be considerably varied, even omitted, without departure from my invention.

.Finally, the product is reduced to a commercial form, for instance, tovpowder. In this form it may be shipped to the textile mill and will only require mixing 'with' water when it is to be used. In other words, Y

the material sent to the mill is a complete size, the properties and characteristics of which will Vbe varied 4during manufacture to meet the requirements of the work in connection with which it is intended to be used,`

so that when the material reaches the user it will be ready for immediate use. No

other substances need be mixed with it ex-l cept the water employed in reducing it to a usable liquid state.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates apparatus -for carrying out the preferred method of manufacturing this product, 1, 2 and 3 are vessels in which the starch is treated to suitably modify it. The raw starch is removed from the starch tables 4 and mixed with water in a breaker tank 5 which is provided with an agitator 6. From the breaker tank the starch milk is run through a pipe 7 having branches 8, 9 and 10 into the treating vessels 1, 2 -and 3. 11 is the acid tank and 12 the acid line running to the treatingvessels. Heat is applied to thejmaterial in the treatingl vessels to raise the material to a temperature safely below the gelatinization point, say to about one hundred andv twenty degrees Fahrenheit., by means, preferably, of a hot water circulating system. The water is heated in a vessel 13 by means of a steam coil'14, water being supplied to the tank through pipe 15 and steam to the coil through ,pipe 16. rIhe waterfrom the tank 13 is circulated by a pump 17 through pipe line 18 which is provided vvith branches or loops 19 arranged in thevessels 1, 2 andv 3.7 Vessels 1 and 2 and vessels 2 and 3 are connected by valved pipes 20. 21 is a pipe connected by valved branches 22 to each of the vessels.v 23 is a pipe leading from pipe 21 over the vessels and having valved branches or spouts 24 for delivering liquid'into said vessels. By this arrangement of pipes an.iuter-circulationv may be maintained between the treat ing vessels for the purpose of insuringr perfect uniformity in the product.v The circulation of the liquid is brought about by' a pump Q5. The course of the liquid will depend upon the adjustment of the valves in the piping just described. The liquid may, for example, be drawn from vessel 3 through pipe 2l (in which case valve 22 of vessel 3 will be open and the corresponding valves of vessels l and 2 closed) and introduced into vessel l through pipe 23 and the branch pipe 2l which leads to vessel l, the valves inthe other branch pipes 2l being closed. In such case the valves in the pipe 20 will be open so that the liquid in the vessels will equalize through these pipes. The treating vessels 1, 2 and 3 are preferably provided with agitators 26 which are kept in revolution by any suitable mechanism (not'shown).

When thel starch has been modified to produce thinl boiling starch of the desired fluidity. say to a fluidity of sixty degrees 0r above, depending upon the character ofthe product desired. the thin boilingstarch may be run through the filter presses QT and vacuum drier QS and treated as hereinafter described. Where, however, it is desired that the product have the capacity for coating the yarn as well as penetrating it so thatI it will give the yarn the maximumstrength as well as weight, I mix with the thin boiling starch a quantity of thick boiling or ordinary table starch which may be taken from the starch tables l. reduced to starch milk in the breaker tank 5 and run into the treating vessels through pipes 7, '8. 9 and 10. .This starch is thoroughly mixed .with the thinboiling starch by means of the agitators aided. preferably. by the inter-circulation between the vessels above described.

In ordeil to give the product additional adliesiveness and to make it-sinoother in its character the mixed thin and thick boiling starch is given further treatment with an alkali, for example. with caustic soda. Supposing that a product is required having a penetrat ion represented by forty degrees fluidity. I produce a thin boiling starch having a fluidity of seventy-five degrees and mix with this table starch in the proportions of' 80 parts table starch to 100 parts of thin boiling. starch` by weight. The mixture is then treated with an alkali, theapplication of heat being unnecessary, 'using for example, one-tenth of one per cent.. by weight of caustic soda. The resultant product will have approximately the desired degree 0f fluidity, namely, forty per cent. and it will be smoother in its character than `material not subjected to the alkaline treatment.

- That is, the yarn when sized with the prodpurpose of making it hygroscopic.

uct will not have the harshness observable in yarns treated with a size produced by the acid modification alone. The product, however, is not alkaline in its character. It still has a slightly acid reaction.

If penetration is the quality chiefly required in the size, the raw or thick boiling StarCh may be omitted and where the other qualities of smoothness and additional `adhesiveness are desirable the thin boiling starch may be subjected to the alkali treatment. Thin boiling starch as well as raw starch is affected by the alkaliand its fluidity decreased. It is necessary, therefore, `to modify the thin boiling starch to an extent which will giove it greater fluidity than is required in the finished product. The treatment to which the starch must'be subjected will depend, ofcourse, upon the capacity for penetration which is required in any given case. j lVith the knowledge that the fluidity of thin boiling starch is decreased by alkaline treatment it is an easy matter to work outv empirically the degree of fluidity which it is necessary to obtain in the starch before subjected to t-reatment with the alkali' in order that a` product should be obtained having the proper capacity for penetrating the yarn.-

Referring to the drawing, 29 indicates the starch tank for the alkali and 30 the supply pipe therefrom which is provided with valved branches 31 leading to the treating vessels. The product from the converting vessels isl runV to the filter presses 27 through a pipe 32 connected by branch pipes 33 withv the bottoms of the treating vessels and provided'with a pump 3l. A conveyer 35 is arranged under the filter presses and conveys the starch to a hopper `36 which discharges the same into the drier. Preferably I employ a vacuum drier Q8. The product, when dried, is discharged into a hopper 37. Ify

additional ingredients are to be added to the size this operation is preferably performed during thel latter part. of the drying step. For example, I may Inixwith the starch a certain amount of some lubricating substance, such as petroleum oil, a'nimal fat, or the like,'petroleum oil being preferred. 1t is also possible and desirable, under some circumstances, to mix a small amount of calcium chlorid with the material-for the In order to preventthe product from souring when wet up and kept for several days, it may include any suitable germicide. These ingredients, or such of them as are employed, are mixed together in liquid form in a storage tank 39 and are injected into the material in the vacuum drier by means of an atomizing device 40. The -drler is preferably of the eneral construction shown diagrammatica lv in the drawing.

The cylindrical casing of the drier is prolli vided with aY steam jacket 41. Within the casing is a revoluble drum 42 through which steam is circulated. Secured to the drum are agitating blades 43.. The atomized liquid is drawn into the drier by the vacuum pro- 4acid treatment and starch modified by treatment with an alkali. v 3. A size containing thin boiling starch modified by acid` treatment,` thick boiling starch and starch modified .-by treatment with an alkali. 1

1. A dry sizing material containing modified starch and a lubricant intimately mixed together.y v 'l n 5. A dry sizing material containing modilied starch, a lubricant and a hygroscopic substance intimately mixed together.

61A dry sizing material containing modified starch, a lubricant and a germicideintimately mixed together.

7. A dry boiling starch intimately mixed With thin boiling starch.

8. A dry sizing material containing thin boiling starch modified by an alkali.

` 9. A dry sizing material containing starch modiiied byacid treatment and starch modi-l fied by treatment with an alkali.

10. A dry sizing material containing a mixture of thin boiling starch and thick boiling starch modified by treatment with an alkali.

11. A size in the formofra dry powder 'containing thick boiling starch mixed with thin boiling starch.

12. A size in the form of a dry powder containing thin boiling starch modified by treatment with an alkali. Y t

. 13. A size in the form of a`dry powder containing think boiling starch and rawv starch both modied by treatment with an alkali.

14. The method of producing a sizing sizing material containing thick material which comprises modifying starch with an acid under conditions which produce thin boiling starch, mixing thick boiling starch with the thin boiling starch, and subjecting the mixture to treatment with an alkali. l

15. The method of producing a sizing material which comprises modifying starch with an acid under conditions which produce thin boiling starch, and then treating the thin boiling starch with an alkali.

16. The method of producing a sizing material which comprises modifying starch with an acid under conditions whichy produce a thin boiling starch having a degree of fluidity greater than lthe iuidity required in the finished product, and then modifying the thin boiling starch by treatment with an alkali. n'

17. The method of producing a sizing material which comprises modifying starch with an acid under conditions which produce thin boiling starch havinga uidity greater than that requiredin the finished product, mixing thick boiling starch with the thin boiling starch, and subjecting the mixture to treatment with an alkali.

18. The method of producing a sizing material which comprises modifying starch under conditions which produce thin boiling starch, drying the product and during the drying operation intimately mixing a lubricating substance therewith.

19. The method of producing a sizing material which comprises modifying starch under conditions which produce thin boiling starch, drying the product to a powder, and mixing a lubricating substance in atomized form with said powder.V

20. The method of producingl a sizing material which comprises modifying starch 'with an acid to make the starch 'thin boiling,

and thereafter treating the same with a caustic alkali."

21. The method of producing av sizing material which comprises modifying starch with an acid to make the starch thin boiling,

and thereafter treating the same with a 

